Ethernet was originally developed at the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (“PARC”), and subsequently standardized by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (“IEEE”) as the 802.3 standard. As Ethernet grew in popularity and network technology advanced, new IEEE standards were adopted for faster version of Ethernet, e.g., 10 Mbps, then 100 Mbps. Currently, IEEE 802.3z defines the 1000Base-X standard for 1 Gbps Ethernet, also known as “Gigabit Ethernet.” One problem that can arise as line rates increase, whether in equipment that supports Ethernet traffic or any other network protocol, is that configuration and maintenance functions which are implemented in software become relatively slow. While this is not necessarily debilitating to the equipment, it can degrade performance and cause somewhat unpredictable operation.